Unicorn
A unicorn; historically also known as monoceros; is a folkloric species of single-horned animal, whose horn has magical and/or healing properties. It is described as a hoofed beast, nowadays very commonly represented as a horse, with a conical spiraled horn on its forehead. Due to its traditional association with purity, it's very commonly depicted as white in coloration. In terms of behavior, the historical unicorn was universally regarded as an extremely hostile beast, prone to charging towards people in order to impale them and gore them to death. Only a virgin maid can safely stay in its presence and potentially tame it, or at least sooth it enough to allow it to be slain or captured. Nowadays, however, the unicorn tends to be portrayed as a timid and peaceful species in popular media; although often noble enough to create an aura of respect around it. Its disputed existence and magical associations have made it a cultural symbol of the unbelievable and the fantastic. Biology The historical image of the unicorn differs considerably from the (relatively) recent picture of an animal that looks exactly like a horse, save for its horn, which is similar to the tusk of a narwhal. Ancient Greek naturalists such as Ctesias and Aelian regarded the Indian unicorn as an equine, but described it as a horse-sized donkey rather than an actual horse. This unicorn was described as mostly white in coloration, but its head was described as dark red and its horn was black, white and red. In Medieval bestiaries from Europe, unicorns were pictured as goat-sized quadrupeds, and had an equine head sitting atop a more cervine or caprine-like body, complete with goat-like cloven hooves. In many cases, they also had a goat's beard, and sometimes a lion's tail. The horn of a unicorn, and the material that it's made of, are both known as "alicorn". This item is highly sought for its healing properties. According to Ctesias, the ancient people of India used these horns to make cups and it's been reported that poisoning a drink served in such a cup would have no effect on the drinker, for the horn renders the poison safe and harmless. Since the unicorn has been historically portrayed as a fierce and exceedingly violent beast, which will only calm down in the presence of an innocent lady, the most common method for catching one involves using a virgin maid to attract it and sooth it until it falls asleep, at which point the hunters arrive to slay it. Another method sometimes used is to stand in front of a large tree and allow the unicorn to charge at you, only dodging it at the last possible moment to ensure that the beast will impale the tree's trunk with its horn and become stuck. History Animals referred to as unicorns have been recorded since ancient times by naturalists and travelers in Europe, Asia and Africa. However, the fact that the "unicorn" moniker could technically be applied to any single-horned animal makes some of these reports ambiguous. For example, the famous description of large, brutish, mud-wallowing unicorns by Marco Polo is believed by most historians to actually refer to the rhinoceros. The mythological unicorn originates in India, and has been described by Greek authors such as Ctesias, who pictured it as a swift donkey-like animal, although as large as a horse, with fur that is white on its body and dark red on its head, and whose horn can provide protection against diseases and poison. It takes many men to successfully kill it, and it cannot be captured alive, as it continuously fights to the death. Its flesh is too bitter to eat, but it's still hunted for its horn and knuckle-bones. In popular culture Since the 20th century, unicorns have become very popular in fantasy works, especially those primarily aimed for children, which tend to play upon their magical nature and perceived innocence, rarity, elusiveness, and mythical status. They tend to be portrayed as white, or with colors that are traditionally associated with femininity, such as pink and lilac, and sometimes have rainbow manes or other rainbow motifs (although these exceedingly colorful depictions are far more common in parodies). Additionally, works such as Hexe Lilli and Sofia the First have also depicted unicorns with wings, and the word "Alicorn" (which, as stated above, refers to the horn of a unicorn) has been erroneously used in some media to refer to a winged unicorn. The association of the unicorn as the national animal of Scotland is also the source of its satirical portrayal alongside the lion (which represents England) as comical enemies in Lewis Carroll's classic Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. Works featuring unicorns Comics *''Phoebe and Her Unicorn'' *''Trail of the Unicorn'' *''Unico'' Literature *''The Circus of Dr. Lao'', by Charles G. Finney *''Harry Potter'' series, by J. K. Rowling *''The Chronicles of Narnia'' series, by C. S. Lewis *''The Last Unicorn'', by Peter S. Beagle *''Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There'', by Lewis Carroll *''The Princess and the Unicorn'', Carol Hughes *''Stardust'', by Neil Gaiman Films from The Last Unicorn.]] *''1612'' *''Blade Runner'' *''Cast a Deadly Spell'' *''The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland'' *''The Cabin in the Woods'' *''Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe'' *''Fantasia'' *''Fantasia 2000'' *''The Last Unicorn'' *''Legend'' *''The Little Unicorn'' *''Stardust'' *''Nico the Unicorn'' TV series *''Corn & Peg'' *''Doctor Who'' *''Dungeons & Dragons'' *''DuckTales'' reboot *''The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy'' *''Gravity Falls'' *''Hanazuki: Full of Treasures'' *''Kleo the Misfit Unicorn'' *''Johnny Bravo'' *''Merlin'' *''Once Upon a Time'' *''Puella Magi Madoka Magica'' *''Regular Show'' *''Supernatural'' *''The Simpsons'' *''The Smurfs'' *''Zig & Sharko'' Tabletop games *''Dungeons & Dragons'' Video games *''The Elder Scrolls'' series *''Final Fantasy'' series *''World of WarCraft'' Gallery Unicorn1658.jpg Unicorn-ManuelPhiles.jpg|Indian unicorn. Boma-ClassicOfMountainsAndSeas.png|Depiction of the Boma ("Bo-Horse"), a Chinese unicorn. Unicorn-WayneBarlowe.jpg|''Barlowe's Guide to Fantasy'' 79805695.jpg|''1612'' Unicorn-CastADeadlySpell.jpg|''Cast a Deadly Spell'' Unicorn-TheCircusOfDrLao.jpg|''The Circus of Dr. Lao'' Uni-DungeonsAndDragons.jpg|''Dungeons & Dragons'' Unicorns-TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy.png|''The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy'' Rashomoron.jpg|''Johnny Bravo'' Unicorn-Legend1985.jpg|''Legend'' TheLittleUnicorn.jpg|''The Little Unicorn'' Unicorn-Merlin.jpg|''Merlin'' PhoebeAndMarigold.jpg|''Phoebe and Her Unicorn'' Unicorn_Troop.png|''The Troop'' Unicorn_(World_of_Warcraft).png|''World of WarCraft'' Unicorns_(Fantasia).jpeg|''Fantasia'' Fantasia2000.jpg|Unicorn, Dragon and Griffin in Fantasia 2000. Unie.jpeg| GaryTheUnicorn.jpeg|''The Simpsons'' UnicornWizardTSTO.png|Unicorn Wizard from The Simpsons Unicorn (Once Upon a Time).png|''Once Upon a Time'' Buttercup.jpeg|Buttercup, a toy unicorn from Toy Story 3. Unicorn-Wabbit.jpeg|''Wabbit'' Unicorns_(Regular_Show).png|''Regular Show'' Pony_Head.png|''Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' Unicorn (The Cabin in the Woods).jpeg|''The Cabin in the Woods'' Amalthea.png|Amalthea from The Last Unicorn. Unicorn-DuckTales.jpeg|''DuckTales'' reboot Unicorn-HarryPotter.jpeg|''Harry Potter'' Unico.jpg|Unico, a baby unicorn Unicorns_(Gravity_Falls).png|''Gravity Falls'' Unicorn Disco Zoo.png|''Disco Zoo'' See also character from A Centaur's Life who has horse ears and a spiral horn on her forehead.]] Since the word "unicorn" means nothing more than having a single horn, any creature fitting this description (such as the real life Javan rhinoceros, the extinct Elasmotherium, or even the ) could potentially be referred to by this name. Needless to say, there are several types of one-horned creatures in folklore and media, many of which related to and/or inspired by the classical unicorn. Legendary creatures *Abada *Anggitay *Al-mi'raj *Bjarndýrakóngur *Bo *Camahueto *Camphruch *Escornau *Indrik *Khara *Luduan *Qilin *Shadhavar *Xiezhi *Zheng Fictional creatures *Abath (Grimm) *Keldeo *Mantacorn *Minicorn *Pony (My Little Pony) *Rapidash *Jacchus *Snailicorn *To-Ki *Unicorn (1612) *Winged Unicorn *Zoomicorn Category:Legendary Creatures Category:Cryptids Category:Sentient Beings Category:Non-sapient Beings Category:Magical Creatures Category:Mammals Category:Eurasian Creatures Category:African Creatures Category:Quadrupedal Creatures Category:Mountain Creatures Category:Variable Aggressivity Category:Animated Creatures Category:Live Action Creatures Category:Comic Book Creatures Category:Literary Creatures Category:Movie Creatures Category:TV Show Creatures Category:Video Game Creatures Category:Alice in Wonderland Universe Category:The Circus of Dr. Lao Universe Category:Doctor Who Universe Category:Dungeons & Dragons Universe Category:Elder Scrolls Universe Category:Final Fantasy Universe Category:The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Universe Category:Johnny Bravo Universe Category:The Smurfs Universe Category:World of WarCraft Universe Category:Disney Universes Category:Harry Potter Universe Category:Narnia Universe Category:DuckTales Universe Category:The Simpsons Universe Category:Once Upon A Time Universe Category:Regular Show Universe Category:The Muppets Universe Category:The Cleveland Show Universe Category:Gravity Falls Universe Category:American Dragon: Jake Long Universe Category:Looney Tunes Universe Category:Fantasia Universe Category:South Park Universe Category:Robot Chicken Universe Category:Commercial Creatures Category:My Little Pony Universe Category:Warner Bros. 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